Unique
by Blade-A-Blaze
Summary: AU. Ash Ketchum is no ordinary boy. He has extraordinary reflexes. So much that he receives an invitation to attend PokeSpe: a school where others like him -people with abilities- can hone their special talents. However, it doesn't take long before a string of events takes the world by surprise, and, as fate would have it, Ash gets caught in the middle of it. Sarcastic/Sassy!Ash
1. Chapter 1

**A.N.:**

 **Hey guys! Welcome to my very first story! So I was browsing through the Pokémon fandom and I noticed that there were a lot of high school fics. When it is well written and not completely cliché-ed, it can be pretty enjoyable. This story is just an idea that trotted through my mind for a few weeks, and I thought "why not?"**

 **I am not an experienced writer in any way, English is not my first language, and I don't even know if this idea was done before. So I ask of you, people that might still be reading this A.N., to please point out any mistake. Grammar, punctuation, syntax, spelling, point 'em all. I'm alone on this, so please, understand and help me grow as a writer so the story can be more enjoyable.**

 **Without further ado, let's a-do it… puns…**

 **Chapter 1**

 ***** BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Sunrays were filtering through the blinds as the horrendous screeching noise woke me up from my slumber. The red flashing "7:00" who was glaring at me scared away the non-existent amount of determination that I possessed to wake up. Struggling, I raised a shaking arm towards the big button who currently represented everything I needed up to this point of my short miserable existence. My excruciating act, however, was interrupted by the person who could either be the sweetest and kindest creature that Arceus graced upon this planet, or a monster so horrible that made Giratina look tame. My mother. Guess what part of her led this morning? Yeah, that's right.

"ASH KETCHUM," she hollered, "Don't you dare hit that snooze button! Because, I swear that if you do-"

"Alright, Alright, I'm up!" I yelled back.

I let out the saddest, most depression-filled sigh as my last hope of achieving 10 more minutes of delicious, heavenly sleep disappeared like snow on a hot, sunny spring day. So, Ash Ketchum. That's me, I guess. 16 year-old, weird birthmarks, average height, raven hair and amber eyes. Those are the boring things that come out during the dreadful "first look". So that makes me a pretty average person doesn't it? That's where you're wrong. Normal and I are as different as night and day. I was born as what the common people call a "Noryoku". What is a Noryoku, you ask? It's very simple. Actually, rectify that. It's kind of lengthy. So grab a chair and heat that popcorn people, because Uncle Ash is about to tell you a story.

A Noryoku is someone who is born with special abilities. Superhuman abilities. There's no telltale sign that shows your belonging to the oh so unholy group of Noryoku. Some people might even go their whole life without knowing they are one, because their superhuman ability has never shown themselves or just isn't that noticeable. I envy those people. The ability to go through a normal life, without getting stared at, judged, and everything that comes in the package of being one of these "demonic creatures". However, I only envy them sometimes. In fact, most of the time, I pity them. Because I could pathetically drone on about how being a "Superhuman" is terrible and hope that Zapdos strikes me with lightening to end my short life, but that would be lying.

Because, let's be honest here, we all hoped at one point in our life that we suddenly would get special abilities or powers and abuse them. That's how it feels. Sure, I could do without the out casting, but I'd rather have super powers you know? Moving on. A Noryoku's ability usually manifests itself with age. Usually. Sometimes, it can manifest itself early through sharp, intense emotions. Usually negatives ones like fear, anger, despair, sadness… you get the gist of it. I'm a part of these lucky people, but I really don't want to explain what happened, so this will be a story for another day.

The creaking sound of the door interrupted my train of thought. This door could really use a good dose of oil. But then it dawned on me. I was sitting on my bed, in my underwear, and I hadn't moved an inch since my mother so gently told me to wake up. And my mother certainly doesn't like when I take my sweet time getting up.

I rotated my head towards the door, just in time to see my mother sporting a sinister grin, holding a very familiar yellow creature, wearing an equally sinister grin. I swear these two will be the end of me.

"Pikachu, dear, you know what to do" My mother chuckled.

Does she even love me?

"No please no! This is all a misunderstanding! You don't have to-", was all I could get out before my words morphed into a cry of pain.

The rodent who manifestly took an immense pleasure out of my pain was my partner, Pikachu. Even though he could be a pest by moments, like this one for instance, I loved the guy. We were best buddies, having each other's back since Oak thought it was a good idea to give a troubled 10 year-old an electric mouse with violent tendencies. Well, scratch that. There was a period where Pikachu hated my guts, and wouldn't do anything that might involve me in the slightest.

The reason why we are now able to spend every single moment of our life together is strangely tied to the reason I am able to tediously move myself up using my bed, even after being on the receiving end of one of Pikachu's strongest attack, thunderbolt. My second ability, heightened resistance, I think they call it. I wasn't really listening to the excruciatingly boring doctor at the time, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with my bone density and an alteration in the composition of my skin. My first ability, you ask? You'll just have to wait and see…

Once my sweet, kind, gentle partner figured out I was pretty much a two-legged punching bag, he started to accept me. But when he saw that I could stand up pretty much immediately after getting shocked, he was impressed. Such a thing to be proud of. _Congratulations Ash, you're the best punching bag!_ Gee, thanks. Then I probably grew on him, because he likes me as much as I do now.

Sappy friendship stuff aside, it's time to move on to the second most important thing in the morning after the holy snooze button; breakfast. My mother surely read my mind, as demonstrated by her next words:

"Come on sweetie," she smiled. "I made you some waffles, your favorites."

See what I was talking about earlier? She made my absolute favorite breakfast for no apparent reas-

"After all, it's your first day to that new school!"

Never mind, then.

I groaned, thinking back to **_that_** day.

 _Flashback_

 _(Three weeks earlier)_

 _"I'm home!" I yelled as I entered the house._

 _Mimey, the Mr. Mime who was assigned as my mother's partner Pokémon, glared at me as he was the state I was currently in; panting, sweat streaming down my face, looking ready to crash onto the first bed that would come across my way. Pikachu, was faring much better than I was since that, being a Pokémon, he didn't get as winded as me during our daily runs._

 _The Barrier Pokémon threatened us with his broomstick and pointed at the nearest bathroom. Rolling my eyes, I complied, because I desperately needed to wash myself. After a much-needed, refreshing shower, I set out to find my mom. Unsurprisingly, I found her in the back yard, tending to the crops. She smiled and waved her arm when she saw us._

 _"Hello boys! Had a nice workout?", she greeted._

 _"Pika!" "Of course, we keep getting better each day!" we answered simultaneously_

 _"Great work, dear! I'm pretty sure I saw the mailman pass by earlier, could you go check, please"_

 _I nodded, intrigued. Today was Friday, and the new mail usually came in on Sunday, why would today be different? I shrugged._ Only one way to find out. _I hastily made my way to the mailbox, located in front of our house, and opened it. Inside, a single, lonely letter rested on the hot metal of the box. I took the message in my hands, my curiosity piqued._

 _Inside, I gave the piece of paper a closer, more attentive look. I noticed two strange things, the first being that it was addressed to me, which happened about zero time, the second being the way the letter was sealed. It was closed with some kind of blue wax sporting an emblem that consisted of Articuno surrounded by some kind of hexagonal shape._

 _I opened the letter and without wasting any time, started reading it._

Dear Mr. Ketchum.

We are pleased to tell you that you have been accepted at PokeSpe School for exceptional children. You will find attached to this note a list of needed personal belongings and procedure of arrival. Since you are a new student, we advise you to arrive at Kalos' international airport one day before class begins, where a limousine will be sent to fetch you. You may bring your partner Pokémon.

We hope to see you on September 1st.

Sincerely,

Principal Cynthia Shirona

 _Confused like no tomorrow, I went back outside to my mother._

 _"When exactly were you planning to tell me about this" I asked curtly, annoyed._

 _"Huh?" she rose her head. "About what?"_

 _I simply waved the letter in front of me, urging her to come over and read the letter herself. That's exactly what she did. As she was reading I saw two emotions going through her face: confusion, then pure contempt. She then settled with staring at me smugly as if I had something on my face. After a long period of silence, she finally said:_

 _"Well, I have no idea where this comes from or how they got wind of your ability, but this certainly solves a lot of problem!" She seemed really excited._

 _"Wait, what does that have anything to do with me being a Noryoku?"_

 _She stared at me, sending my way an unsaid_ Really _? "Hmm, I don't know what could possibly have told me that your abilities. You're right, Ash. It's totally not the name that basically screams it."_

 _PokeSpe School for exceptional children. Oh yeah, now I see it._

 _"I guess it makes sen-," I started. "Whoa, slow down here, you're really considering sending me there, when you don't have the slightest idea as to where it is, how much it costs, and how they even know who I am? Because let's face it, you can barely make enough money for the both of us, even if you send me to some ramshackle public school, and now you're sending me to some rich boarding school that's situated in Kalos? Have you lost your mind? The only two French words I know are Bon and Appétit. How do you expect me to survive? And I'll be gone for the whole year, won't you miss me? And what about-"_

 _I was interrupted by my mother, who exploded in a fit of giggles. I felt my face flush in embarrassment. I was rambling, again._

 _"Ashy, Ashy, Ashy," I cringed with the use of the nickname. "I understand your worries, but they really are for naught. Here, read this," she said as she handed me the back of the letter._

No payment is required, you are offered a full scholarship. After, all we know about your abilities.

 _"Okay, you don't need to pay, fine," I admitted. "But still, don't you find it too good to be true? I mean, this could easily be a trap."_

 _"No, I don't think so. After all, if it was a trap, why would they give themselves the trouble of making the school location all the way in Kalos? And on top of that, that is_ Cynthia Shirona _we're talking about, Sinnoh's champion. And her official signature is on the envelope, which means that the letter was verified and scanned to make sure it is not an imposter posting the letter," she explained._

 _Well, I guess she did have a point here._

 _I sighed, defeated. "I don't have a say in this, Do I?"_

 _She just smiled, as if that explained everything. Great._

 _Flashback end_

So that brings us today.

The delicious smell of my mother's famous waffles pulled me from my thinking and prompted me to put on the clothes that I had prepared yesterday, dark blue jeans with a black T-Shirt. I then proceeded downstairs to find the mouth-watering breakfast sitting on the table, waiting for me, calling. I didn't even try to put up any type of futile resistance.

I dashed to the table and started feasting on the waffles. I vaguely heard my mother saying something about chewing before swallowing, but I paid no heed. The only thing that mattered was the plate resting on the tabletop, and the half-eaten waffles. After a whooping minute of eating, I was finally done.

Then it was time.

When the clock struck 8 o'clock, I made my way to the front of the house to find all my bags and luggage ready. I took a deep breath, wondering, _am I really doing this?_ Going to another region, to some school that would supposedly help me to hone my Noryoku abilities, for a whole year? I hadn't even taken a step out of the house, and I already started to get homesick.

 _That's enough,_ I thought to myself. I steeled my nerves, and turned back to give the house a last look for a long time. My mother was standing there, arms crossed, eyes watering. Even though I was 16, she had trouble letting me go, being an overprotective mother and all.

"Promise me to be good?" she asked, voice shaking. "That you'll call at least once a week?"

I went over to give her a hug and reassured her: "I promise."

"Good. Now go. And don't forget to change your underwear every day!" she said with a chuckle.

"Mooom!" I complained, red with embarrassment.

She giggled: "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Now shoo!"

I smiled, gave her one last hug then set out. It was time for my new journey to begin.

 **So how was it? Good? Mediocre? Terrible? Let me know in a review! Also, let me know if you find Ash too out of character for your tastes. I wrote him like this because it's easier to write him like this and it fits better with the story and setting, in my opinion. But if it is a bother, I'll do my best to make him more like original Ash.**

 **Anyway, that's all for this chapter. I'll be back shortly with chapter 2!**

 **Blade-a-Blaze, signing out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.: Hey guys! Blade-A-Blaze here!**

 **First off, I want to start by thanking you guys for giving such a positive welcome to my story! Really, though. I didn't expect much out of it as not a lot of things happened in chapter 1, but that's normal, really. It served to set the mood of the story, and I hope it did its job.**

 **Also, shout out to PheonixNebula for writing the first review! You left an awesome one, too.**

 **I didn't mean for Ash to come out as sad, actually. I aimed more for a more sarcastic/overdramatic Ash, but now that you mention it, I can see why he seemed sad. I'll try to work on that this chapter. Tell me if it's better.**

 **That's the kind of reviews I want, constructive criticism.**

 **Also, I'll leave a pretty important author's note at the end, so please do read.**

 **Anyway, Chapter 2!**

Chapter 2

Man, these bags are _heavy._

The 30-feet walk from my house's front door, and the yellow cab that we previously called to bring me to the airport felt more like a trek through the whole mandarin desert. On top of that, the cab driver didn't even help me by opening the trunk! What? What kind of person does that? Annoyed, I made my way to the side of the car opening the door to the backseat.

"Thanks for the help back there," was the first thing I sarcastically dropped upon entering the automobile. "Really appreciate it."

"Oh, shut it, kid. I'm not paid to help you." He grunted.

Well, hello to you too, Mr. Sunshine.

"Are you just going to sit there all day, hurry up and tell me where to."

I huffed. "Just take me to Viridian's airport"

Halfway through route 1, I spotted a flock of Pidgeys led by a Pidgeot, no doubt taking flight to hunt for some food. Then, an idea struck me. An idea so great that it was sure to ruin my driver's foul mood even more. I rubbed my hands together, grinning devilishly. I calmed myself down and asked:

"You see these Pidgeys?"

As expected, Mr. Sunshine, as I decided to nickname him, didn't even acknowledge me. Not that it mattered, because what I would say next would definitely get some sort of reaction out of his stoic, stone-like face.

"Cause I think one of them might have flown off with your tip," I continued, a smug grin forming.

I was a bit disappointed, however, because my super witty comment didn't have that much of an effect on him, other than his eyes noticeably widening and letting out a gruff "Whatever, kid." Still, I was pretty satisfied with myself.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, if it wasn't for the strings of curse words that would escape Mr. Sunshine's mouth every time another driver would cut him off that would have gotten him an earful from my mother. We finally arrived at Viridian City's international airport after 50 minutes of a tense, boring ride.

I was more than happy to at last leave my insufferable taxi driver. Without tip. _Take that, Douche!_ I couldn't resist one more jab at him, so I took my wallet out and began digging inside, as if I actually was looking for money to give. Fooled, he extended a hand, an avaricious glint in his eyes. I just handed him a fistful of air, an act that earned me a vicious glare. Flipping me the bird, he drove off. Finally.

Turning back, I observed the imposing airport, filled with stressed, rushing people who were trying to get to their flight in time. I swept the place with my eyes, trying to locate the register of the company who was flying me. _Air Kanto… Air Sinnoh, Air Unova… ah! There. Kalosian Airlines._ I quickly made my way at the end of the register's discouragingly long line. Ughh. I hate waiting.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting in line, passing security, getting my bags checked, and being asked countless questions as to why my "Yellow Rat" –I swear, he was about to shock the daylight out of them- was riding on my shoulder instead of in his Pokéball, we finally made it to my airplane's gate.

As soon as they called for the travelers to come forth, I jumped out of my seat eagerly and rushed to the gate's entrance, trying to make it to the front of the line. Hey, can you blame me? I was sick of waiting. However, in the process of doing so I bumped into a boy, about my age, whose head was topped with spiky brown hair.

"Watch it!" he growled.

"Sorry!" I said, turning back to the boarding agent who was handling me my checked passport.

I hurriedly made my seat situated at the back of the plane, a bit worried. This was actually my first time taking the plane, and it was a stomach churning experience. I steeled my nerves, preparing myself for the takeoff. Just as the plane started moving towards the launching lane, I had a flash about the boy I bumped earlier.

Spiky brown hair

Huh, that sounds strangely familiar.

I woke up with a shock when the plane hit the ground. Halfway through the 10 hour-long flight, I decided to sleep to pass the time. Well, let me tell you, it worked. I got off the plane and went through another series of boring things that you were required to do upon arrival.

Finally, after an excruciatingly long time, I was able to make my way to the exit of Lumiose's City Airport, where a man dressed in black was holding a sign with my name written on it. I walked over to the man, who threw me an inquisitive glance.

"Are you Ash Ketchum?" he asked in a flat tone, looking extremely bored.

Geez, did being a driver prevent happiness in life or something?

I nodded, giving an affirmative answer to his question.

"Good, follow me. I will take you to your new home for the next three years, unless you get expelled, that is."

I gulped. The accusing tone he used made me believe he thought I wouldn't last two years in there. Sure, I may look like a rebellious troublemaker… Okay, I may **be** a rebellious teenager, but that didn't mean I got expelled at every school I entered, right?

Actually, looking back on my track record, he might have had a point there. The longest I lasted in the same school wasn't two, but one. I seemed to have the worst luck concerning everything that had to do with field trips. For example, my most recent school expelled me because I supposedly threw a pie at the guide's face. It obviously wasn't me, because no matter how tempting it was to shut up the man who had been droning in front of us about Greek Mythology, I would not in any circumstances waste a perfectly good and delicious pie. Curse my Noryoku blood, I was blamed.

Two years ago, our class went visiting a medieval war zone. I was interested in the siege engine, and approached it. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but I still got expelled. And the year before that I- well, you get the point.

Pulling myself from my thoughts, I gave the man in black an apathetic look, and he seemed to get the message. He took one of my bags and started walking towards a black car.

Well, maybe he wasn't the happiest person in the world, but at least he was helpful, right?

As we got closer, I realized what I thought to be a plain, normal car was actually freaking limousine. Well, that explained why they were able to offer me a scholarship without apparent reason. I followed the man to the vehicle's chest, which, strangely enough, already contained luggage. Not really thinking much of it, I entered the luxurious car.

After I sat down and fastened my seatbelt, I did what I always did when I was alone, I started a conversation with my best friend.

"Crazy day, isn't it?" I asked my companion.

"Chu," he agreed. "Pika Chu, Ka, ChuPi Ka."

"Yeah, I know, this is just the start. I wonder what this year has in store for us."

"Chu, Pikapi, Chu," he explained, sniggering at me.

"Ha-Ha-Ha," I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "Thanks a lot, Pikachu, for-"

"You always talk to your Pokémon that way?" a new voice interrupted. "And here I was, thinking I was close with my Pokémon."

Startled, I snapped my head to the left, my eyes landing upon a familiar face: Brown eyes, arrogant smirk, and spiky brown hair. Our eyes comically widened at the same time, recognizing each other.

"Hey, you're the guy who bumped into me!/Hey, you're the guy I pushed earlier!" we exclaimed simultaneously.

"Sorry about that, by the way," I apologized, scratching the back of my head.

"Yeah, just don't do it again."

A long, awkward, silence ensued. This gave me time to analyze the boy that sat in front of me. I really couldn't shake off the feeling that I knew the guy, but I just couldn't seem to place his face. The silence was really unnerving me, so I tried to strike a conversation.

"So," I began, drawing out the "o" sound. "Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same question. But, if you must know, I was assigned by the principal to lead you to the school and answer your questions about it. Why me? Because I, Gary Motherfucking Oak, am the single most attractive, most awesome, and coolest person that the great Arceus has graced upon all of you lowly rats, so consider yourself lucky, Sparky, because not everyone in this world is blessed with the chance with spending even, the shortest amount of time with me."

"I think you left out humble and obnoxious somewhere in that Shakespearian declaration," I said, not impressed. "And Sparky? Really?"

"Ho, broth'r, gentle, my lord with thy harsh words. Thee hurt me," he uttered dramatically. He then shook his head. "Sparky, because I've never seen someone with a Pikachu, let alone someone talking with one."

I was about to defend myself with some other retort when I had a realization. The arrogant smirk, the posture that exuded confidence, brown eyes, spiky hair. And what had he said? _Because I, Gary Motherfucking Oak._

 _Gary Motherfucking Oak_

There's only one person I know that calls himself that.

"Gary?" I half shouted. "Gary Oak?"

He gave me a weird look, as if I had grown a second head.

"Uhmmm…. Yeah, that's me," he affirmed, not really understanding why I would react this way. Which is, frankly, quite understandable.

"Let me try that again. Gare-Bear? Is that really you?"

The usual annoyance that came with the use of the hated nickname flashed through his face, followed by confusion, a look of deep concentration which, honestly, I had never seen on his face before, then, understanding.

"No way… Ashy-boy… never thought I'd see you again." He said, almost awed.

We spent the rest of the drive to the school talking, or should I say, bickering and arguing, catching up on the last 5 years.

See, the thing is, Gary and I go way back. We've known each other since we were babies, about 2 years old, I'd say. As toddlers, we would play with each other. And even then, we had a rivalry. It was always about who had the coolest toys and who could stay up the longest. Still, we could bear the other's company and hell, we even liked it. However, when elementary school came around, everything changed.

We were always the top of the class student. We were the two student at the head of our grade, our global average always the same. However, we were good in completely different fields. I always excelled in quick thinking situations, so I was great in spelling bees and mental arithmetic. And he was a phenomenon when it came to science and history, a result from his grandfather's long lecture about his times and his job as a Pokémon professor.

Because of that, we started making everything a competition, and we started hating each other's guts, always getting into fights about the littlest of things. It got so bad that our parents had to get involved, forcing us to make amends. We didn't talk to each other for a while, and we were fine with that. However, when we were forced together in a school project, we began talking to each other again.

My mother always made fun of me because my friendship to Gary resembled a friendship she used to have with her friends when she was little; going from being friends, to being enemies, then back to friends and so on and so forth. Still, Gary was my best and only friend for three years, until he had to move away, due to Old Oak's job, which required him to move to Sinnoh to conduct some research there.

Seeing him again was pretty weird, especially when we initially didn't even recognize each other, but pretty much nothing had changed between us. We still held the same old, pointless arguments, but it was nice to have a friend back.

Finally, after roughly an hour of driving, we finally arrived to the school.

To say that the school looked wealthy was the biggest understatement ever used. It looked more than filthy rich. Honestly, it looked more like some kind of palace than a high school. Well, now I didn't have any trouble believing that the place could afford me a scholarship on such short notice. The campus was huge! I could count about seven buildings, each of them bigger than the biggest school in Pallet town!

Jaw open, eyes shining with amazement, I was staring at what would be my home for hopefully the next three years. Gary smirked knowingly as he saw my awe at the enormous school.

"Impressive, huh?"

"Impressive? That's the more spectacular thing I've witnessed in my entire life, and I've seen some things! How do they even afford one building like these is beyond me, but seven? Freaking seven? How do you even possess so much money?" I rambled excitedly.

"Rumor has it that the founder of the school was a Noryoku himself, and he could turn anything he touched into pure, solid gold. I don't need to tell you the guy never got financial problems."

"No kidding," I answered, still shocked.

"Well then, when you're done gawking, follow me, we have to get you registered.

We walked up the marble stairs of the main building, going to the main entrance. As we were walking to the place, I received a lot of stares from the students who had arrived early, as if I was an outsider, an intruder. When we got to the door, I shared my interrogations with Gary.

"As much as I would like to say it's because I'm with you, I can't" he said, disappointed. "The fact that they've never seen you before is a shock to them, as they aren't used to transfer students."

"But new people transfer every year in every school, why would I be any different?"

"Because, people don't transfer in this school, Ash. Actually, you're the first one who has ever did."

That shut me up effectively. Before I could start forming any speculations as to why I was so special and became the first PokeSpe transfer student ever, we arrived at the school's secretary's office.

She put on a bright smile when she noticed us.

"Oh! You must be the new student! Come, enter, enter!"

She seemed friendly enough, albeit a bit over friendly.

"We've heard a lot about you! First off, what's your name?" she asked in a sickly sweet tone.

"Uhmm, Ash Ketchum"

"Age?"

"16"

"Good. Abilities?"

"Super reflex and heightened resistance."

You didn't know about the first one, didn't you? Yeah that's actually my primary ability. Information travels crazy fast in my body, which is why I was so good in spelling bees and mental arithmetic. It also explains why I have the ability to make up crazy strategies on the spot when battling with Pikachu. But my reflex arc is where it's at. My reflex arc is instant, which means that my reflexes are too. In fact, I haven't lost a single fight because of this, since I can dodge every punches thrown at me. It also explains why Gary and I never fought physically. He tried once. It wasn't a pretty sight.

The clerk handed me a plastic card, who had a picture of me and the information that she previously asked.

"This is your student id. It is used to access the different buildings of the school. Mr. Oak here will show you around. If you ever have any questions, you can always come here. This office is open from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. If you are to lose this card, you must immediately contact me. The new card will be delivered to you in the next hour," she robotically explained, contrasting her previous demeanour.

What's with that?

I left the weird secretary's office and turned to Gary, giving him a look that all but screamed _what, now?_

He smirked. "Come, I'll introduce you to the gang."

This sure bound to be interesting.

 **IMPORTANT STUFF, PLEASE READ**

 **Aaaaaaaaaaand, cut!**

 **So, how was it? Good, bad, terrible? Tell me in a review!**

 **As usual, please notify me in a review if you find any mistakes of any kind, I'll fix them as soon as possible. I need all of your criticisms to help me grow as a writer to make the story more enjoyable for you.**

 **I have a few questions for you guys.**

 **First one: Is the length good?**

 **Because I can either go like this: 2.5k – 5k weekly or bi weekly, which is what I'm currently doing, or, if you prefer, longer chapters of like 8k – 10k words monthly.**

 **Second one: Am I too slow?**

 **As you've probably noticed, I like to describe what could pass as useless stuff. (i.e. Ash's relation with gary, the whole moment with the cab driver at the start of the chapter…) If you want me to focus more on the story, I can do.**

 **Third: Is Ash too OOC?**

 **I don't like writing ol' boring, wimpy, clueless Ash, so, as you've probably noticed, I like to take a more sarcastic approach to his personality. If that's a problem, I can probably tone it down a little.**

 **Lastly: Pairings.**

 **I honestly don't know who I'll ship Ash with right now so I'll open up a poll on my profile page so you can vote. I have no idea which one I like best, so I'll let you guys decide, and form my other ships from that point.**

 **So that's all I had to say!**

 **See you in chapter 3!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Happy Blade-a-Blaze here!**

 **As I just stated, I am ecstatic about all the positive feedback I am getting for this story! Honestly, I didn't think that my story would work at all, with English not being my first language and all that, but it apparently doesn't matter! I'm really thankful to all of you guys for the favorites, reviews, and follows. It is what that motivates me to write.**

 **I know that this took forever to get out, and I don't really have any excuse other than some cold-hearted laziness taking control of my inspiration. So you might notice that this chapter is meh. I don't know, I really wasn't feeling it. Hopefully I'm disciplined enough to be able to update this story somewhat regularly and not every *cough* 4 months *cough*.**

 **Never thought I'd be able to say this, but, time to answer some reviews.**

 **Aria: Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions! The reason the first and second chapters were shorter than what I aim for is that they serve more as mood-setters, therefore, they are shorter. As for pairings, they're not for a pretty long time. I just want a general idea of who the people want as their main pairing, so I can plan my story better. About Pika violence, don't stress. It's just that Pikachu is a bit more aggressive, and he used to use Ash as his personal punching bag, but it's all good now. And about Ash's abilities, I'll just say that this is just chapter 3, and I love to make my main characters shine.**

 **MossDeepThinker: Thank you for answering the questions! It really means a lot. Also thank you for the kind words. I can see your reasoning behind your choice to vote Dawn, and I'll keep that in mind. However, the poll is going to decide who wins, and that's going to stay for a while. (I might change my mind and decide whom I pair Ash with or decide to just don't do pairings at all)**

 **Before we go on to this next chapter, I want to remind you to, like always, notify me if you see any type of mistake, I'll do my best to correct them as fast as possible.**

 **Chapter 3, I choose you!**

 **-0-**

Chapter 3

 _Previously…_

 _"This is your student id. It is used to access the different buildings of the school. Mr. Oak here will show you around. If you ever have any questions, you can always come here. This office is open from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. If you are to lose this card, you must immediately contact me. The new card will be delivered to you in the next hour," she robotically explained, contrasting her previous demeanour._

 _What's with that?_

 _I left the weird secretary's office and turned to Gary, giving him a look that all but screamed: what, now?_

 _He smirked. "Come, I'll introduce you to the gang."_

 _This sure bound to be interesting._

I raised my eyebrows, noticing an insignificant detail.

"Yeah, sure, no problem. Just, is there a time where I can drop these off?" I asked, gesturing to my bags.

He sighed, his good mood visibly deflating. "Right, I forgot."

"What's with the long face? We can go after if it bothers you so much…"

Instead of answering me, he just hopelessly muttered: "Why do the dorms have to be so far? They know that the students need to register in the main building, why make us walk all the way to the end of the campus? This is so useless…"

"Uh," I exclaimed, raising a single eyebrow. "Never knew you were such a lazy ass, Gary."

"Oh, shut it, you."

I chuckled and followed him to the dorm building.

Actually, Gary was right. The building was a painstakingly long way from the main building. After ten minutes of walking, albeit at a slow place, we weren't even halfway there. 25 minutes later, we finally made it to the biggest building I've seen yet. Actually, it was two buildings, standing next to each other, only connected by bridges that joined the buildings every two floor, it seemed. However, there was a single entrance hall that touched the two sides.

"Alright," Gary started explaining as I let out an appreciating whistle. "This is where you'll be sleeping. The right side is the boys' dorm, and the left one is the girls'. We can go in their area during the day and vice-versa, but we can't stay later in the other's dorm building later than 11 which is the curfew. A shame, really."

Ignoring is last comment, I brushed past him and entered the colossal structure.

The entrance hall looked like every 5-star hotel's. Marble floor? Checked. Aquariums? Checked. Fake plants? Checked. Expansive-looking chandelier? Che- this is going to get old really fast. There was a desk where a single clerk with pink hair was working. Her tag read: _Joy_. I cleared my throat, gaining her attention.

"Hello young man! How may I help you today?"

Her energetic and bubbly tone catching me off-guard, I took a moment to ask myself, what I was supposed to say.

"I am-"

"He's a new student. He's looking for access to his room."

"Hello to you too, Mr. Oak," she said, her gaze suddenly becoming very stern. "I hope you haven't got yourself in trouble."

"How could I? I just arrived 2 hours ago."

"Do I have to remind you of last year, Mr. Oak?"

He blushed and looked down, taking a sudden interest in the floor. Joy's sweet smile came back as she turned to me.

"So, you're a new student, then? May I have your student ID, please?"

I handed her the plastic card without questioning. She accepted it and punched some keys on her keyboard. After a few seconds, she scanned my card and handed it back to me.

"Looks like you'll be taking Mr. Alain's place in room 407. Enjoy your year at PokeSpe!"

The first part of her last statement immediately pulled Gary out of his sulking. His head snapped up, his eyes widened, then nothing. His face was back to his usual smug smirk. I decided not to comment about my friend's odd behavior as he took me towards room 407.

After a trip through the dorm building and up the elevator, we stopped before a door who sported golden digits that spelled 407. I was about to use my key card to unlock the door, but Gary was faster than me and used his. The lock flashed green and the characteristic click of an unlocking door was heard.

Wait, what?

Gary used his card, and it opened the door. That could only mean one thing. I let out a groan.

"Seriously?"

"What? You're not happy to room with the single, most awesome person on this planet? You should be thanking the Gods, you know?"

I ignored his comment, not because it was stupid or anything, but because my mouth wasn't functioning properly at the moment. As soon as I saw my "room", my jaw dropped for what felt like the millionth time that day.

You know these fancy hotels' presidential suites you see in some movies? Yeah, that was our room. I'd even go as far as to say that it was a bit more spacious. When you pass the door, you are greeted with what seems to be the entrance hall. Past that, there was a formidable living room, complete with two couches, a 60-inch flat screen, a stereo sound system, and basically everything that would make any teenager drool. Two corridors that each led to two bedrooms and a bathroom branched off from the two sides of the living room.

Basically, to say that I was ecstatic with my setting for hopefully what would be the next 3 years was the biggest understatement of the decade. The grin that I currently sported on my face threatened to touch both of my ears. I dropped my bags to the ground and rubbed my hands together in anticipation.

"So, where do I room?"

The room where I was taken to was pretty bare bones. It contained a bed, and since we were at the "Prestigious academy of PokeSpe", the bed was obviously queen-sized. Other than that, the room contained a closet, an armoire, and a night table next to the bed. I dropped my bags and left the room. I would unpack them now, but I had other things to do. And I was lazy. Mostly.

I went back to the living room, where I found Gary, waiting for me to finish visiting the place, watching TV. As soon as he noticed me, he turned off the monitor, jumped to his feet, and addressed me:

"Finally! I swear you took longer than Drew to visit. Come on, now!"

Gary took me out of the room and down the elevator to go outside. He was to give me my tour of the school's site, as it was the task that he was assigned with.

We walked around for a good hour, visiting the different parts of the humongous school. Here's a quick description: the buildings were disposed in a way that resembled the letter "v". The central building, the one that connected the two branches of building, was obviously the main building, where most classes would take place. It was also the place where all the teachers' offices was located. Basically the boring building.

Going down the left branch, we can see the arts and crafts building, the "scene" building, and the dorms building. The art and crafts building was, if you didn't guess, dedicated to art stuff. Music, dramatics, paintings, drawings, basically every artsy fartsy thing that you could think of had its place in this building.

The building behind the Arts building was what Gary called the "Scene Building". Its exterior design was based off some really known opera, and frankly, it looked pretty majestic. As the name might suggest, the place was mainly for holding shows for students that were in the music program. We did a quick tour of the interior, but it's nothing to go over in details, just picture a typical prestigious scene and you pretty much got it.

Lastly, there was the dorm building, but I already talked pretty extensively about that so we'll go right on to the right branch.

Going down the right branch this time, we can see the gym, the battling dome, and the recreational building. From now on, this will be dubbed by yours truly the "fun" branch. The gym building is pretty self-explanatory. It serves as a place to train anything that revolves around the concept of physical. Want to work out to train your body? Go to the Gym building. Want to train your Pokémon? Guess what? You go to the gym building. Want to take a swim? Gym. Want to train your Noryoku ability? You get the point.

The next building was the battling dome, where you put all that time in the gym building to use. Every kind of battle is presented in the battling dome, and it's apparently really appreciated by the students. I wonder why. When Gary told us about that building, Pikachu and I shared a smirk, because we both knew that this place was our place. We would be kings of the battling dome. We promised it.

Lastly, every student's favorite place in the whole campus, the recreational building. The place was stuffed with places like shops, dance floors, lounges, gaming rooms, and, praise Arceus, restaurants. I like food. This is where everybody went on their weekend, evenings, and free time. Frankly, really understandable.

Well, that's the gist of the campus. And that's also the end of my train of thoughts and my autonomy, as I suddenly realised that I don't have the slightest idea of what I was supposed to do. I turned to the only person present with me and, being a really interesting and active person, did absolutely nothing except staring expectantly at the brown-haired boy, lengthening the excruciatingly awkward silence.

"So," Gary said, clearing his throat, thankfully breaking the silence. "Wanna go and check if the rest of the peeps is there yet?"

Having really no reason not to, and really wanting to end that awkward moment, I followed the guy back to the other end of the campus, to the dorms building.

-0-

During the hour that we toured the grounds, the campus got a lot livelier. Everywhere, you could see students reuniting with their friends after the ever-so appreciated summer break. People were catching up, laughing, crying, bickering, beating each other to a pulp… while laughing or crying… you know, the usual. We walked straight to the elevator upon entering the building, and we went straight up to the fourth floor, where our room was located.

It was pretty silent, as everyone was still on the first floor catching up with everyone, so I had to distract myself with the monotonous sound of our feet hitting the cushioned floor, and Pikachu's light snoring and warm breath. However, the closer we got to our room, voices gradually made their way to us. They were actually coming from inside our room, which meant that my other roommates finally arrived.

This time, I opened the door with my key, and as soon as the door closed behind me and Gary, the voices, who were obviously arguing, ceased.

"Oak! Get your smug ass back here and tell the grasshead prick that he's a tier whore," an angry voice sounded from the living room.

"Stuff it, Shinji. You're just mad 'cause you can't beat me," answered a voice that carried an arrogance that matched Gary's.

Gary snickered and just said: "From Diddy, to Sheik, to Rosa, to Bayo and back to Diddy? Pretty sure that makes you a tier whore, Hayden."

Recognising the terms, I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. We finally made our way to the living room, where two boys were sitting on the couch, GameCube controller in hand, playing a heated game of _Super Smash Brothers for Wii U._ We spectated the end of the match, and we witnessed the Diddy Kong player's victory.

A boy with green hair-interesting color- jumped and started dancing, while a plum headed boy grumbled in defeat, obviously annoyed, and handed the other boy Five PokeDollars. They finally noticed Gary and I standing behind them and gave us their full attention.

"Sup," Gary said while giving the two guys a handshake each.

"So, you're the new roommate, huh?" began the boy with chartreuse hair, before continuing "I'm Drew Hayden, and before anything else, _Test of strength!_ "

With a shout, Drew clumsily launched himself at me in hope of taking me to the floor. A pitiful attempt, as I would have dodged the tackle even if I didn't have my ability. I easily sidestepped him and let him fall to the floor with a dull thud.

"I'm Ash Ketchum," I declared, holding back my laughter and extending my hand. "Pleased to meet you."

My laughter might not have been as concealed as I'd hoped, because the boy glanced at my hand and ignored it, standing up and brushing off imaginary dust off his shoulders. He opened his mouth to say something, but Gary beat him to it:

"I thought it had been established that you weren't to do the strength test, Hayden. You're weak. Sorry. Not really."

Drew just closed his mouth and "hmphed", flipping his hair out of his face in an extremely obnoxious way.

I turned to the other guy in the room, who had stayed silent during the whole exchange. He was a tall, rugged guy, who constantly had the facial expression of someone that just got his parking spot stolen. I could tell that he was sizing me up, looking for potential weaknesses. A fighter, then. This ought to be interesting. Once again, I extended my hand:

"Name's Ash. Ash Ketchum. Yours?" I tried with a friendly smile.

He shook my hand firmly, a tad bit _too_ firmly, making me wince, and answering:

"Paul Shinji. Try to test my patience, I'll test the resistance of your bones."

What was I supposed to do with all that happiness? Something told me that this guy was going to be a taxi driver at least once in his life.

"Oh relax, Paul," Gary let out with an exasperated sigh. "The guy's okay, he won't bite. Besides, he plays smash, too."

Hearing that, Drew's eyes lightened up, looking at me with an interested glint in his emerald eyes.

"You do, huh? You any good?"

"I like to think so," I answered, raising a brow.

"Care to prove it?"

"Is that a challenge, Hayden?"

He waved a controller.

"Only if you take it, Ketchup."

"Ketchum."

"Whatever."

Knowing that Pikachu always liked to see himself in the game, I woke him up from his nap as gently as possible, trying as hard as humanly possible to get thunderbolt-ed. I don't know what I did today to deserve such grace, but my partner woke up with a light "chuuuu-" of delight, as opposed to the other times I forcefully woke him up from his nap, which ended with me lying on the ground, smelling like that chicken that I tried to cook once. Keyword being tried.

After shaking off every trace of sleep from his body, my buddy gave me an inquisitive look. I gestured to the TV, and he quickly understood. He climbed a top my head, eager to witness the match between me and the unknown boy with green hair. I took my place on the couch and grabbed my controller.

I selected my main, Pikachu, and he chose Diddy Kong. We exchanged a fist bump, and started the match.

-0-

15 minutes later, Drew was slumped in the couch, grim expression on his face, witnessing the Pikachu winning result screen for the third time in a row. Paul and Gary were laughing uncontrollably at the whooping I just served Drew, who right now was running after Gary to strangle him. Paul turned to me and smirked.

"I guess I can tolerate you if it means you can shut that cocky prick's boasting. Good play, by the way."

"Thanks, I guess," I cleared my throat looking for some sort of conversation while the other two were busy killing each other. "So, you all knew each other before coming here, or were you put in the same room?"

"Believe me, if I had known these 2 pricks prior to coming here, I would have ditched them at the first opportunity. We just got put in the same room, along with Alain, who graduated last year."

With that, the other came back and joined the conversation.

"So, Ketchup, school starts tomorrow, you know?"

"Yep."

"You checked your schedule yet?"

My eyes widened at my stupidity. Looking at my schedule should have been the first thing done once I received it, yet here I was, nearly 5 hours after receiving it, going to sleep in a couple minutes, and I didn't even know what hour were my classes and what they were named.

I ran to my room to go fetch the piece of paper and brought it back to where we were chilling. I placed my schedule on the table and everyone looked over my shoulder to see what classes I got. I took a deep breath and read the paper.

 _From 9:25 to 10:25 :_ **Linguistics with Steven Stone**

 _From 10:30 to 11:30 :_ **Algebra 2 with Norman Senri**

 _From 11:35 to 12:35 :_ **Physics and Science with Ember Blaine**

 _From 12:35 to 2:00 :_ **LUNCH BREAK**

 _From 2:05 to 3:05 :_ **Physical Education with Lieutenant Surge**

 _From 3:10 to 4:10 :_ **Pokémon and ability Training with Wataru Lance**

I let out a groan.

"I'm already bored, guys."

Gary snickered.

"You have at least one of us in each of your classes, so you got that going for you. However, I wish you the greatest of luck in Mr. Blaine's class. He's a real pain, ask Paul.

Said boy just let out a slight shudder, and that terrified me beyond words.

If this teacher is so bad that he is able to make shudder someone who hasn't shown any expression other than boredom in the few hours that I have known him, I don't know how bad it will be for me.

-0-

 **And Cut!**

 **How was it? Good? Bad? Terrible? Tell me in a review!**

 **I actually don't like this chapter as much, but I gave up after writing it thrice. This is the result, I just hope it's not too terrible. I'll probably come back at some point and edit it.**

 **I'm sorry again for the extreme wait, I'll try my best to not let it happen again.**

 **I haven't really proofread the chapter because it's is 3:30 as I am waiting, and I really just want to upload it and go to sleep. So if you spot any type of mistake, let me know in a review!**

 **That is pretty much it guys, remember to vote on the poll!**

 **Blade-A-Blaze, out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, Blade-a-blaze here!**

 **I, once again, would like to thank everybody that reviewed, favorited, or followed my story. It really means the world to me =)**

 **I also apologize for the long wait, but December has been a rush for me with finals and Christmas and all. I am currently on a trip in Thailand, and I just typed my longest chapter yet on my phone. I clearly know how to have fun.**

 **Either way, I am much, much more satisfied with this chapter. Reading chapter 3 again after a few weeks made me realize how much I don't like it. I'll definitely edit it at some point. I did a lot of thinking, planning, and reading other fics to take notes of what was good and what wasn't. The result is much better.**

 **The only major change that you can see is that I am settled on a ship, so I'll take out the poll. This allows me to be more set on my story, and I don't have to plan out a ton of outcomes depending on the poll's result. Sorry if your choice didn't make it.**

 **Also be sure to read the A/N on the bottom, as I have some stuff to tell you.**

 **I also hid a reference somewhere in the chapter, if you can find it, you get some cookies** **:D**

 **Without further waiting, here is chapter 4.**

Chapter 4

 _*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*_

An all too familiar dreadful feeling washed over my brain as once again, my period of respite was interrupted by what was quickly climbing up the ranks of my _things to throw in a volcano_ list. History has a way of repeating itself, you know? Granted, this particular scenario came back to haunt me every day of the week, but still.

I groaned as I saw the red 7:00 glaring at me, reminding me that closing my eyes in hope of getting additional rest wasn't an option. I sighed, defeated, and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I sat up and took in my surrounding, surprised at first by the unfamiliar room I was sleeping in. The events of the last 30 hours or so coming back to me, I reflected on my predicament. I was in Kalos, the region furthest from my home whose half of the population spoke a language I knew around four words of, in a school full of people I didn't know, with no idea in the slightest of what to expect.

Realizing that moping around wouldn't bring anything positive, I went to my closet and opened it, with the intention of choosing from my clothes and dressing myself up, only to have the back panel of the piece of furniture returning my blank stare. My laziness had come back to kick me in the back, because I was now forced to rummage through my luggage to find clothes for the day.

I randomly took out a shirt and a pair of pants out of my bag, trusting this method to dress me up for the day. I really needed to unpack my things. Once I was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a plain white tee, I threw a glance at my bed to look at a peacefully sleeping Pikachu. The scene was adorable enough to almost convince me to leave the little guy alone and come fetch him when I left for classes. However, just as I was opening the door, I remembered the stunt he pulled on me the day before, and decided that couldn't go unpunished.

I took a step back, laughing silently, and made sure that that my buddy was still sleeping. I ran towards my bed, building up speed, then jumped as high as I could onto the mattress. My partner was sprung off the pillow he was sleeping on. Lying on my bed, I saw him wake up in a panic, not understanding what was going on. He noticed me giving him a smug smirk, and he caught on to what had happened, his eyes narrowing. Suddenly, as he was descending, his expression changed to a laughing one, and his tail took on a metallic shine.

 _OH SH-_

If my flatmates weren't awake by now, the loud clang of my partner hitting me on the forehead with the flat of his favorite attack, Iron tail, was sure to pull them from their slumber. As a matter of fact, I could hear multiple footsteps running towards my door. It wasn't long till Drew and Gary barged in my room, pillow in hand, murderous intent on their face.

"Would you please? Shut! Up!" they shouted in unison, battering me with their pillow. Way to kick a man when he's down, guys. I curled into a ball and endured the beating that lasted a good 30 seconds, knowing that I deserved it. Eventually, the two idiots relented and went away, muttering about ruined sleep and what not.

I gave the sniggering mouse a dirty look, and he had the nerve to bust out laughing. I just flicked his ear and he jumped on my shoulder, still giggling. How does a mouse giggles anyway? I walked out the door for good this time, and caught a whiff of the breakfast aroma that was emanating from the kitchen.

Trusting my instincts, I decided to let my nose guide me to the smell. Slowly, but surely, I was able to get to the source of the odor; Paul was at the stove, cooking eggs, bacon, sausage and a plethora of other things all at once.

"Breakfast?" I asked, impressed. Probably not wanting to speak up this morning, the plum-haired boy settled on a grunt. This, however, sparked a number of questions. Why was he cooking? The school didn't have a cafeteria? Where did he learn to cook? Worst of all, were we taking turns cooking breakfast?

I prayed with every cell of my being that the last one was false. Taking turns making breakfast would mean that every day, a different person would cook. That would entail that, at some point, I would be the one standing behind the stove, handling the various kitchen tools. While the chore of cooking wasn't too daunting, I seriously didn't want to be charged with the attempted murder of three people.

I opened my mouth to share my worries, but a familiar voice interrupted me.

"Oh, that's right. We didn't tell you about the chores." I turned around to see Gary leaning against the wall, all previous animosity or any type of resentment absent from his face.

"The school wants us to be 'responsible young adults', so every student has to take care of their room. Here, it's simple. We divided everything. As you can see, Paul is in charge of cooking breakfast, as he is the only one that knows how. Drew does the laundry, I pass the broom and the vacuum, and you'll be washing the dishes and countertops. Right now, you're probably thinking 'Oh but Gary, what happens is we decide not to clean everything? How can they know?' to which I answer : They don't know how often you clean everything, however they do, brace yourself, surprise inspections. Yes, I know, how terrible and stupid. However, yours truly, being the coolest and awesomest person in this world of peasants, managed to snatch the inspection calendar, so I only need to clean things once a week, instead of e-"

Gary's monologue was interrupted by a towel to the face. Paul, who didn't want to hear the brunette boast this early in the morning, had thrown the piece of cloth, effectively shutting my childhood rival up.

"Stop talking. Your voice annoys me," the grumpy boy said, a scowl on his face.

"You know you're just jealous because you two have to work everyday, while me and Drew only have to work every other day," Gary retorted, ignoring the glare that was becoming more pronounced by the second.

It was pretty obvious that Paul had a retort in mind, but he decided that picking fights with Gary wasn't worth it. He ignored the brunette and served the four plates on the table. I quickly made my way to the table and sat in front of one of the plate. Just as I was about to lose myself in the sustenance, I noticed something.

"Where's Grasshead?"

Gary, whose glass was resting on his lips, spat out his orange juice and started choking. I turned my head towards Paul to see if Gary was okay, but Paul wasn't an option. The usually stoic boy, had the ghost of a smile on his face, his eyes shining with mirth. There was something seriously wrong.

"W-what did I do? Did I say something wrong?" I asked to no one in particular. Gary answered me, having to take a break every three words to either cough or burst out in hysteric giggles.

"Di- Did you just called Drew G-Grasshead?" he said, before bursting out laughing once more.

"Who called me _what_?" the chartreuse-haired boy entered the room at the worst moment possible. He looked around, confused by the scene.

"How nice of you to join us, Grasshead," Paul wasted no time in teasing Drew, who grew a very angry look on his face.

" _WHAT?_ "

"Don't look at me, new guy came up with it."

"You?" he shouted whirling towards me, flicking his hair out of his eyes. "Oh, I ought to-"

"Well you _do_ have long green hair that keeps getting in the way," I interrupted, which was, frankly, not the smartest thing to do. Drew opened his mouth, probably to start giving me hell, but was interrupted by the still laughing Gary.

"You wouldn't have to flick em out of the way so much if you just _mowed_ them," Gary said before standing up and running away, knowing what would come. Drew's face went crimson with rage, and immediately started giving chase to the fleeting boy.

"Oak!" he shouted. "Get back here you bitch!"

-0-

The rest of the morning went by pretty uneventfully. I ate in a rush, got ready for school, and started the long walk from the dorm building to the main one. Alone. I normally would have gone with Gary, Drew, or even Paul, but Drew and Gary were still chasing each other Arceus-knows-where, and Paul had left while I was cleaning the dishes. So I was forced to walk on the path alone.

All around me, people were muttering things, pointing, staring. It made me feel self-conscious. I thought that being in a school full of Noryokus would stop the pointing and staring, boy I was wrong. Half the people here were looking at me because I was a new student that wasn't a freshman, which was something pretty rare, but the other half knew me beyond just "the new student". They knew me because of _him_.

Before I could get anymore uncomfortable, I arrived at the main building, where I would spend all of my morning classes. I went to enter the building, but something moved in front of me, blocking my way. I looked up to see a hulking figure, dressed in black, who was giving Pikachu a very, very dirty glare.

While the school wanted to have a Pokémon with us at all time, they were meant to be kept in their Pokéball. However, Pikachu absolutely abhorred his little capsule, and he hasn't entered it once in his life.

"Pokémon are to stay within their Pokéball in the main building. Please return your Pokémon," he warned with a frown. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to return Pikachu, I tried to strike a deal with the guard. I handed him the mouse Pokémon's ball and said:

"Here, if you can return it while he's on my shoulder, he'll have no choice but to stay in there. However, if after 5 minutes he's still on me, he's staying there. Deal?" The imposing man scoffed at me, believing I was mocking him. He took the ball and pressed the button, expecting the beam to hit Pikachu. Just before the beam hit him, my partner tilted his body sideways, effectively dodging the beam. He then yawned, taunting the guard.

The following five minutes consisted of a lot of dodging, taunting, and a ton of cursing. Every time the beam got close to hitting Pikachu, he just jumped to another part of my body or deflected the beam with Iron Tail. The scene gathered a good amount of people, who began to cheer for the little guy. The man, who was growing more angry by the second, noticed that he was serving as a source of entertainment for everyone and gave up.

"Fine," the guard said. "Keep your stupid rat on your shoulder." Pikachu, who normally would fry anyone that would call him a rat, just gave the man a salute, complete with a cheeky grin. The crowd gave a loud cheer, to which my buddy answered by showing off. He flipped off my shoulder and called a thunder on himself, which he redirected off the side. I just hope the attack didn't hit anything.

I shook my head at Pikachu's antics, he sure liked attention. I finally headed inside the building, steeling my nerves for the first class.

-0-

Maybe angering the guard at the front door wasn't the brightest idea of them all, because I could have asked where my class was. But now, thanks to my brat of a partner, I was running through the empty halls, the 9:25 mark dangerously approaching. There! I entered my class just as the bell rang.

The teacher was at the front of the class, writing stuff on the board. Maybe he didn't see me en-

"I would advise, Mr. Ketchum, that you restrain yourself from humiliating staff members, and concentrate from getting to your classes on time in the future."

Crap.

News sure did travel fast in this school, huh? And how did he notice me entering the class? He still had his back turned to me, after all. He finally turned around, allowing me to see a kind face. Mr. Stone was a middle-age man, and, from what I had gathered from Drew, a really cool guy. He had silver hair, grey eyes, and a really nice suit complete with a red tie.

He gestured towards the back of the class, where the mass of students were muttering among themselves. I saw an empty seat in the back, immediately to the left of Drew. I hurriedly made my way to said place, trying to ignore the stares I was receiving. The mutters died down and we all looked to the front, where Mr. Stone patiently stood.

"Good morning students," a few greetings could be heard throughout the class. "As you can see, we have a new student among us this year, and I expect each and everyone of you to treat him as one of your own, with the respect he deserves. Now, Mr. Ketchum, would you please stand for us."

I stood hesitantly from my chair as the mutterings returned, louder this time around.

"Mr. Ketchum? As in Ash Ketchum, the son of Red Ketchum? I didn't know he was a Noryoku..."

"Maybe his mother was one? He obviously took more after her."

Those were the first type of muttering I could hear. As for the second type;

"What are these things on his cheeks, anyway? Scars?"

"I think they're more like birthmarks. He sure is cute, don't you think so?"

"Quiet! Everyone can hear you!"

Yeaaaah…

Hearing the students speak _his_ name sparked some bad memories. I tried to stop them from resurfacing, but to no avail.

 _It was a cold night. It was deadly silence in the cozy house was interrupted by the multitude of rain droplets battering the windows. A small boy, about four of age, was curled up in the corner of the room, tears streaming down his face, glistening in the moonlight. His eyes were wide with terror as he looked on the scene happening before him: two men in black suits with the letter R embroidered on the front were pointing a small, metallic object at his father. Why were they here? What did they want? They kept screaming at his father, demanding something. Asking where was something? The little boy could tell that the men were getting impatient, but his father kept denying their accusations. A dark look came across their faces, and one of them moved. He tilted his arm, just enough so that it no longer pointed at his father. The barrel of the gun was now aimed at The little boy's head. Just as the man pulled the trigger, he heard his father scream._

" _Ash!"_

 _But… it wasn't his father?_

"Ash Ketchum!" Mr. Stone shouted.

I was brusquely pulled from my memory by the teacher, who was staring at me expectantly. I looked around the room. Everybody was staring at me, trying to hold back their laughter. I felt my face flush.

"I don't think you need to stand anymore now, don't you think?" the teacher said apologetically. He had noticed the terror in my wide-open eyes.

"Yeah, I can do that."

That probably was the smartest comment I could come up with in my current state of shock. I sat down quickly, almost losing balance. Nice going, me. As soon as I sat down, the stares thankfully went back to the front of the class. All except one.

"You're alright, man?" Drew asked, concerned. "I mean you just froze up and had this.. terrified look in your eyes."

"Yeah, I'm good. I might tell you about it later."

I didn't know if I would hold that promise, but I had to start trusting people in that new place, and my roommates seemed like a good place to start. I turned to the front, trying to pay attention to the lesson.

-0-

The rest of the first period and the second period went by pretty uneventfully. Mathematics was typical mathematics (boring) but the teacher was nice. I also had Gary to talk with, and he's a pretty entertaining guy so that went well.

However, the moment I dreaded the most had come. Third period, physics and science with Mr. Blaine, the teacher whose reputation was as bad as my appetite was big. The old geezer was sitting in front of the dead silent class, glaring at every single boy, but giving perverted looks to the girls, who were getting more uncomfortable by the second. His glare stopped on my eyes, who were staring right back, and he scowled even more, if that was possible.

Great. So we had a perverted, stuck-up, and all-around despicable prick who hated my guts before a word was said as a teacher. I just can't wait until the end of the year. My hate must have transpired from my eyes, because he sneered and opened his mouth.

"You there! New boy. Stand up!" his voice was as soft as the gracious sound of nails scratching a chalkboard. I didn't want to start any trouble before the first class, so I stood up really confused. He just made me stand up like this for a minute. The bell rang.

"Who said you could stand up? I'm marking you as late."

Instead of doing the sensible thing and sitting down or attempt to reason with the geezer, I let my impulses guide me.

"Who said you could teach?" I retorted. Students around me burst out laughing, before a glare from the teacher silenced them at once.

"Talking back to your teacher? That's a warning, boy. One more and that's detention."

Controlling my urge to start a verbal fight with the man, I let out a "Yes, sir," through gritted teeth, and settled on trying to burn holes through his shiny forehead with my eyes.

"Today, we do lab in pairs," he began the lesson. "Choose a partner. Quickly!"

I immediately looked back to try and find Gary, only to see that he was already with Paul. He saw me and sent me an apologetic look. He owed Paul from getting Drew off his back this morning, so he had to do the lab for him. I looked around the class, noticing that everyone already had a partner. Well, not everybody.

There was a group a three girls next to Gary and Paul, and the three were engaged in a heated, three-way rock paper scissor match. One of them had fiery orange hair, the other blue, and the last one brown. After a final clash, the brunette sighed, defeated. The other two girls quickly got together and started working on the sheet. The obvious loser of the match looked around for any partner, until her gaze met mine.

She made her way towards my desk, and when she reached it she spoke:

"So your friends ditched you, too?"

Her voice was as soft as honey. All previous ear damage done by the teacher's screeching was healed by the velvet smooth voice of the girl before me. Now that she was right next to me, I could actually see how pretty she was.

Her hair went down to her mid-back in an upside down "V" shape, and was topped with an orange bandanna. She had a cute little button nose, lips that were shaped in a kind, yet energetic smile. But her eyes stole the show. They were the color of sapphire, but shone like diamonds. They were so beautiful, they almost kept me from noticing a certain part of the feminine anatomy that was quite large. Or should I say certain parts. Either way, I noticed. Stupid hormones.

My cheeks went a little red, but I managed to keep my cool and answer after what I hoped was not too long.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Partners?" I extended my hand, grinning. She shook it and sat down next to me. I started to work on the sheet, but it wasn't long until I was stuck.

"What's your name again?" I asked sheepishly. "I forgot it."

"I'm May Maple. And you?"

"Ash. Ash Ketchum."

 _May._

I liked it. It had a nice ring to it. I wrote down her name on my sheet and started to work.

The sheet was just a general test to test our knowledge on the things that we knew, so our teacher was able to plan out the year according to the level of the students. He might be a creep, but at least he knew how to do his job. Soon enough, I got stuck on one question. No matter how much I turned it over in my brain, desperately trying to remember something, I came up short. I looked over on May's copy and saw that she was stuck on the same question. I raised my hand, trying to make Mr. Blaine come over to us.

I kept my hand up for 5 straight minutes, before giving up with a frustrated sigh. I knew what he was doing. He was purposely ignoring the boys' questions and going straight to the girls'. He got way too close to the girls when answering their questions, using his status as teacher as an excuse to feel up the female students' body. The man sickened me. It was absolutely disgusting. I came up with a plan. I turned to May besides me, who was still stuck on the same question.

"May," I got her attention. "Can you raise your hand, please?"

"Are you crazy?" she panicked. "You haven't noticed what he-"

"Trust me," I interrupted. "I got a plan."

Reluctantly, May shakily raised her arm, a cautious look on her face. The bait worked. The teacher went straight to our work station, the look of a predator in his eyes.

"Yes, sweetie?" You could practically feel his malevolent intents in the air.

"W-well," she stuttered. I gave her a look to cheer her up. "I'm having trouble with question number 17."

The teacher, who had been eyeing me in the corner of his eyes, completely forgot me as he haunched over May's desk, obviously tilting his body to close the gap within their bodies as much as possible. As he started to write the answers on May's test, she looked at me angrily, believing I had let her down. However, this was all part of the plan. I pointed at Pikachu, who was currently on four legs, cheeks sparking. I then pointed the metal structure of her chair, whom the teacher was leaning against. She understood.

She shuffled awkwardly in her seat, moving her legs and back that had been touching to the metal in a way that they no longer did. I jumped on the opportunity.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave!" I commanded in a whisper. The electricity ran up the chair, fizzling out when it came into contact with the plastic. Soon enough, the weak paralyzing attack came into contact with the old geezer's body, sending him twitching on the ground.

The view of Mr. Blaine spazzing on the tiled floor elicited hoots of laughter from the students. He attempted to stand up, only to fall in the least graceful way possible. Coming down, he hit his head on the floor, and he stopped moving. Before people could start cheering, a message on the P.A. was heard.

" **Would student Ash Ketchum please report to the principal's office."**

-0-

Unlike my classes, I knew where the principal's office was. Where as most school would have it on the first floor, PokéSpe situated their principal on the last floor. It was supposed to remind the students that there was always someone above them, both literally and figuratively. Believe me, it worked. I knew that my little stunt wouldn't go unpunished, but I didn't expect to be in trouble so soon. I didn't even have time to concoct an excuse better than "The teacher is a creep."

Finally, after a few minutes of walking, I finally made it to the imposing wooden double doors. I was about to push the door open, but it swung itself open before I could do so. Mrs. Shirona was behind her desk, carefully studying a stack of paper. She gestured the chair in front of her, urging me to sit. Once again, when I left the door's frame, it closed itself.

I sat down on the chair in front of the principal and waited for her to make a move. After a couple of minutes, she let out a dejected sigh and looked up from the paperwork.

"Is there anything you wish to tell me, Ash?" I knew she referenced my poor conformity to the school's rules on this first morning. I also knew I should probably say something, but I decided to play the sass card and deny any accusations.

"Not particularly, no"

"Do you know, Ash," she weighed her words. "Why I am in this office?" Confused, I decided to stick with sass.

"Well, you are the principal, aren't you?"

"You know what I meant," she drily said. "Now, answer me. Why am I appointed here?"

"Because the architects made your office on the last floor?" She squinted her eyes.

"I think it would benefit the both of us if you would stop mocking me, Ash. My patience is wearing thin." I finally complied and played her little game.

"Because you are the most apt at leading this school?"

"Correct. As you probably know, I am a Noryoku myself. My ability? I can create mental webs with people that allow me. Do you know what that entails?" I just shrugged, not knowing exactly what it changed. She picked up her speech where she left off: "It means, Mr. Ketchum, that I can communicate mentally with people that allowed me over a certain distance. This means, that I am always aware of what is happening on the grounds of my school. Now that you know this, is there anything that you wish to tell me?"

Knowing denying things would no longer work, and fed up with the way she was putting pressure on me, I started ranting:

"What exactly do you want me to say? I could list off what I did wrong, and apologize for it, but we both know I won't mean it. I could say that I was wrong, but I truly believe in the righteousness of my actions. My fate completely rests within your hands, do what you want with it. If you want to expel me, so be it. I don't really care anyway."

While my words could come off as desperation or exhaustion of being in a compromising position, we both knew that I meant each and everyone of them. She apprehended my words, probably thinking of the kindest way possible to tell me to pack my things (who were still unpacked) and go home.

"You're right."

Huh?

"It is unfair of me to ask you such questions when there really isn't a right answer. I am now able to see your motives, and I know that you meant well. I am almost impressed, because most wouldn't have had the guts to go through with it. You truly were sickened by the actions of Mr. Blaine, and your bond with your partner is simply too great to force upon him what he hates most. I am aware of Mr. Blaine blatant lack of respect and professionalism, and a search for a replacement is currently under process." Me and Pikachu smiled, we had accomplished something. "However, your actions cannot go unpunished. Humiliating, talking back to, and knocking out staff members is too much to simply be let off with a warning. You are to report to me after class, where proper punishment will be given out."

I couldn't deny I was getting excited. Even if I said that I wouldn't care if I was expelled, the prospect of staying here made me feel great. This place really felt different, after all. I thanked the principal for giving me a second chance, to which she only smiled.

"I am only being fair. I have no intention of sending you home. In fact, I think that you are a great addition to this school. I am the one who invited you here, after all. Just don't make me regret that decision."

"I promise, I won't"

"Good. Now, I believe the bell is going to ring."

Taking this as an invitation to leave, I exited the office, and headed towards the school cafeteria.

 **Well that was fun! Was it? Tell me in a review!**

 **As I mentioned earlier, I am settling on a ship for the story. As you provably noticed, this story is now an AdvanceShipping story. Sorry If it wasn't your choice, and celebrate if it was!**

 **I am aware that this has the potential of making me lose some readers, but the benefits heavily outweigh the negatives. I can now plan more surely. Also, I like this ship the best.**

 **But now I ask you to PLEASE REVIEW (quick attention grabbing here, hehe. Anyway, please read on.) As I stated above, I am writing this on my phone, and I carefully double checked to be sure that I made the least mistakes possible. But I am not perfect, and English isn't my first language so I might have missed some.**

 **Also, most IMPORTANTLY (same here), I need you to bring any concern, plot hole, comments and a general appreciation of the characters (especially Ash) and the story in general. I'll take any advice into consideration, and the audience's opinion is really important to build up confidence as a beginning author.**

 **Anyway, that's all for today. See you soon hopefully! (Chapter 5 is already underway)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Didn't expect me to come back so soon, huh?**

 **Once again, I'd like to thank everyone that has favorites, followed, or reviewed the story. This chapter was once again written on my phone, so if you see any mistakes, please point them out in a review! (comment my story, while you're at it ;) I'm a bitch, lul)**

 **I'm back from my trip after 31 hours of travel. It's long, especially when you get dyspepsia as soon as you leave.**

 **Review;**

 **Redandready25: Thank you for the kind words! I try to avoid the cliché as much as possible, because I hate them, too. However, sometimes it's impossible to avoid them and I have to implement some cliché elements, to my utmost displeasure lol.**

 **Making a troubled kid/delinquent was pretty much my goal, so it relieves me to see that it can be seen through text.**

 **As for Noryokus seen by the outside world, we'll see more of that later, but I can tell you that they are discriminated. Mostly because of jealousy.**

 **And yes, Cynthia is like a Dumbledore. Actually, every member of my staff is based off another fictional character, I'm having too much fun.**

 **No more wasting time, here is chapter 5!**

The bell rang as I was making my way to the cafeteria. While normally it would take a respectable amount of time to get to a place I didn't know the location, I had knack for finding food. Whenever I got lost as a kid, instead of calling the police like every mother who had lost their child would, Mum would walk to the nearest restaurant and sure enough, I was there. It's like my subconscious had a food detector, and whenever I didn't have a place in mind, it would lead me to food.

So I was walking without aim through the halls, hoping I would arrive in the cafeteria soon enough. I was discussing the recent events with my buddy, like I would usually do when I was alone. To the outsider, I would look like a lunatic, talking to my school bag. Indeed, Pikachu was currently hiding in my bag, complaining that the A.C. was too cold.

Soon enough, I caught the smell of food, and I was able to move surely towards the place that would allow me to please my stomach. I finally reached the place I was looking for. The cafeteria was huge! For a school that held below a thousand students, it was a bit exaggerated. I looked around trying to find a table where I could eat.

I looked around for a few minutes, before I noticed the three guys from my room sitting at one table. They noticed me, and Gary gestured me to come over. I started making my way to the table, but I soon had to stop, because I bumped into someone, sending them sprawling to the floor. The carrot top got up quickly, murderous intent on her face.

"Watch where you're going, stupid!" she all but screamed at me. Knowing that I was the one that bumped into her, I decided to let the "stupid" comment slide. I just wanted to get to my food as fast as possible.

"Sorry," I muttered the apology, my eyes fixated on the table, where someone had been nice enough to bring me a plate. I tried to get around the shorter girl but she went in front of me blocking my path. I raised an eyebrow, silently asking her what in the world she was doing.

"You don't get to eat until I get my water back," she stubbornly said, crossing her arms and firmly planting her feet on the ground. She looked to the ground and I followed her gaze. The water bottle that she got for her lunch. Really? There's a water fountain every 15 meters or so, and you feel the need of getting a water bottle? How dumb do you have to be? Really not in the mood to deal with such a brat, I just picked up the bottle and handed it to her.

"Here, now you can walk about 5.7 seconds to get to the nearest fountain and fill your bottle. Problem solved. Happy?"

"I'm not walking one more step that I would have had to if you didn't knock me over, stupid." Was this girl for real? I looked at her more carefully. I realized that this girl was the one in my science class that had ditched May. How May could be friend with that was beyond be. Testing my luck, I just walked past the redhead and started going toward my table.

"What exactly are you gonna do about it, ginger?" I taunted. She fell for the taunt way harder than I expected her to. She suddenly went deadly calm, but I could practically hear her fuming in anger. She suddenly made a motion as if she had a golf club in her hands, and snapped her head towards me. She swung her hands my way, as if wanting to hit me. I don't know if she overestimated the length of her arms, but there was a good meter between her fists and my face.

However, three inches from my face, a huge, wooden mallet suddenly appeared, with every intention of hitting my head off my body like a golf ball off a tee. Thankfully, thanks to my ability, I was narrowly able to avoid the strike. I took a step back, eyes wide. I don't know which one of us was more surprised. I was surprised because a mallet suddenly appeared next to my face. She actually tried to kill me! She was surprised that my head was still resting on my neck.

She then went berserk. She made large motions with her whole body, trying to hit me with that overgrown hammer. I'm surprised she hasn't destroyed everything yet. Her swings were chaotic, with no thought put into them. She was just trying to reduce me to the state of a puddle on the floor. I, on the other hand, was concentrated on dodging her strikes. I was thankful for my reflexes, otherwise I would have been dead a long time ago.

I jumped, ducked, sidestepped, rolled… everything to prevent me from getting hit by that thing. The scene had attracted quite the mass of onlookers, it's a wonder that no staff members tried to intervene. From the start, I was on the defensive. However, when the red-haired girl in front of me overextended and threw her arms in a large, overhead arc, I went on the offense. I rolled into her, catching her off guard. She brought her mallet close to her, falling into my trap I faked a hit to her face, and she closed her eyes by reflex. I smirked as she did a blind swing towards me. I tilted my body sideways, effectively dodging the hit. However, before she could bring her hammer back, I grabbed it, pulled it towards me, and kneed the handle, snapping the wooden weapon in half.

We both stood there, panting. A good number of the student body was present, and started clapping. They probably thought it was a show. For the girl in front of me, however, it was far from a joke.

"You- "

"Misty, that's enough."

The voice that probably saved my life today came from behind the monster before me now known as Misty. A brown-haired girl that I have never seen before put her hand on Misty's shoulder, making the redhead turn towards her. She gave the tomboy a stern look, and my almost killer sighed. She made a motion in the air as if she was unzipping a pocket, and a hole opened in midair. It was weird, it was like someone spilled their coffee, but the liquid never fell down, forming a puddle in midair instead. She threw the remnants of her weapon in the portal and it disappeared.

I heard of that ability. It was pocket dimension. It allowed the Noryoku to open up a portal to an alternate dimension, where you could store any object, as long as you were able to lift it. Like a freakishly huge wooden mallet for instance. I wonder what other deadly things she hid in there. After throwing her hammer, Misty stormed off, probably towards her table. I turned my head to the girl that was left.

"What's her problem?" I asked, still a bit shook by the encounter. She looked at me and her gaze softened to an almost pitying on.

"Oh, normally, Misty isn't like that. Something unfortunate happened to her this morning, and that put her into a mood. But yeah, Misty has a temper."

"What is possibly so bad that could have put her in such a violent mood? I mean, yeah, shit happens, but you just have to get over it," I said. The last part of my comment was a jab at the seething redhead, who was still within earshot. She turned her head and glared at me, which I graced with a cheeky grin, coupled with a wink.

"Well, Misty and me bike to school every morning, because, you know, it's a pain to get here from the dorms. While she was parking her bicycle, a huge thunderbolt came pretty much out of nowhere and reduced her bike to a pile of ashes. She swore to find the culprit, and to pound them to the ground. Something that you rendered impossible."

Halfway through her explanation, the color gradually left my face, leaving it like bed sheets in a hotel room. I knew exactly where that thunder came from.

 _Flashback_

 _The crowd gave a loud cheer, to which my buddy answered by showing off. He flipped off my shoulder and called a thunder on himself, which he redirected off the side. I just hope the attack didn't hit anything._

Oh well, I know to always expect the worse when it comes to luck. However, I could thank whatever sick deity was controlling my life for once, as Pikachu was invisible, cozy inside my backpack. For once that his laziness came in handy.

After a little bit more small talk with the girl now known as Leaf, I was finally able to reach the table where my roommates had given up waiting for me, halfway through their meal. I sat down in front of the now cold plate of spaghetti.

"Crazy day, huh?" Believe it or not, it was actually Paul that started the conversation. I went over everything that had happened to me from when I opened my eyes at 7:00 up to this point. I tried to prank Pikachu and got a bruise to the forehead for it, created a nickname for Drew that he's probably going to get revenge for, humiliated a guard, fried a bike, made enemy with a creep, got sent to the principal, and got into a fight. All of that within the span of 5 hours. Undoubtedly the most eventful morning of my existence.

"Tell me about it," was all I said. We all kept straight face for about 30 seconds, until I let out a chuckle. Then another. Gary joined in, then Drew followed. Even Paul joined in. After about 10 seconds, we couldn't hold it in anymore, and we all started cracking up. Loudly. People were staring, but we didn't stop, nor did we care. At this point, I didn't even know why I was laughing, but it relieved the stress of my eventful morning so I welcomed the medicine.

"Did you really knock out the science teacher?" Drew asked incredulously. I was about to answer but Gary took things over from there.

"You should have been there. Ash's Pikachu just shocked the living day lights out of the teacher. He got sent to the principal immediately afterwards!"

"Yeah, I heard the announcement over the P.A.," he turned to me. "What did she say?" Everybody leaned in, eager to say what the estimated Cynthia Shirona had said about my numerous stunts of the morning.

"She actually let me off pretty good, I only got to go to her office later to get some 'adequate punishment' or something. Probably going to be detention or something like this. Maybe cleaning? I don't really know. She actually said she was impressed because I had the guts to go through with what I did."

Drew whistled appreciatively, but Gary wanted some other info, the juicy stuff.

"So, Ash, any chicks got your attention yet?"

Subtle, as always.

I tried to hide any reaction, because I knew that if I showed the smallest of signs, it would be the end of me. However, before I knew it, my head had turned slightly, and my gaze found May at the table across, where she sat with Leaf, Misty, and the unnamed blue-haired girl. Coincidentally, May had been staring at me, and our gaze met each other. We both looked away, slightly blushing, pretending the brief contact never happened. The whole exchange lasted about one second in a half, but it was enough for Gary to notice.

"No fucking way!" I scowled, knowing the rest of the dinner would be used for annoying me. The loud exclamation got the attention of Drew, who showed interest in what would followed. Even Paul, noticeably leaned in, interested in what would follow.

"What?" Drew, who wanted to know what was going on, asked.

"Ketchum has an eye on Maple!" Gary loudly exclaimed. Paul, hearing this, just chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"I do _not_ 'have an eye on her'," I defended myself.

"You totally think she's hot."

"Shut up."

"I don't hear you denying it."

"What part of shut up don't you understand?"

"Alright, Romeo."

I glared at Gary, to which he only laughed. I decided to ignore him and turned to Drew, who had stayed silent during the exchange.

"Don't you have anything to say?" I asked, genuinely surprised he hadn't jumped on the opportunity to tease me.

"Good luck with that," was all he drily said. Why so salty?

"May has the reputation of turning down every guy that has asked her out. Drew included."

Gary always had a knack to annoy people.

"I didn't ask her out," the chartreuse-haired boy protested indignantly.

"Yeah, cause she friendzoned you as you were about to ask her."

"Shut up."

"Sure thing, Grasshead."

Drew gave Gary the most hateful glare I have seen in a long time, and threatened Gary.

"Say that one more time and I _will_ get my revenge."

"I'm looking forward to it, Grasshead."

"I will c-"

"On another subject," Gary turned to me. "Did you know that May is the daughter of our math teacher?"

-0-

Everyone was in the school's sport uniform, sitting in the stands of the exterior football court, which was situated behind the main building, waiting for the teacher to show up. It didn't take long.

Lieutenant Surge was huge. Clocking in at an imposing 6 foot 9, he wasn't the guy you wanted to meet in a dark alley at night. If that wasn't enough, every part of his body was bulging with muscles, making the man weigh at least 250 pounds. He had a classic gym teacher outfit, with navy blue nylon pants, with a white stripe running up the side of each leg. He also wore a classic white t-shirt that was stretched to its limit by his bulky torso. His blond hair was groomed in a military buzz cut.

"ALRIGHT YOU BUNCH OF LAZY EGGPLANTS," the man screamed, easily gathering the attention of everyone present in the class. "WHILE I'M NORMALLY SUPPOSED TO TAKE ATTENDANCE, I WON'T. WE GOT NO TIME TO WASTE. THIS AIN'T NO KIDDIE CLASS HERE, THIS IS THE ARMY. AND IF I SEE ONE OF YOU COMPLAIN, YOU WILL SEE ME AFTER CLASS WHERE YOU WILL GET A PRIVATE CLASS."

Nobody knew what to say. The man seemed rather intense, not somebody you'd want to anger. We all decided to keep our mouth shut, really, _really_ wanting to avoid a private class with the mountain of a man.

"I SEE THAT I MADE MYSELF CLEAR," he seemed pleased with himself. "WE'RE WASTING SECONDS NOW! EVERYONE! THREE LAPS! AND FAST."

Everybody got to their feet in panic and started running around the court. With Lieutenant pressuring everybody to go faster with sentences like:

"MY GRANDMOTHER RUNS FASTER THAN THE LOT OF YOU. AND SHE'S DEAD!"

Or:

"THE CARROTS MY WIFE PLANTS GROW FASTER THAN YOU RUN!"

And again:

"ARE Y'ALL WEARING HIGH HEELS? CAUSE I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH POOR RUNNING FORM."

I'm a guy who has a lot of energy. The doctor back in Pallet said I was borderline hyperactive, but didn't give me meds because he told my mom that my extra energy could easily be spent if I did physical activity. So everyday, my mom pushed me to go run and exercise my body. She said It was for my health, but I know the main reason is that she doesn't want to have to deal with a hyper kid. I would probably break things.

Since I was pretty in shape from exercising pretty frequently, I was better off than most students. But even then, the speed at which Surge made us run was pretty straining. It took two minutes less than I would have taken to complete the three laps, because I tried to put as much distance between me and the hulking teacher as possible during the run.

I was slightly winded, but I was good to go. The same could not be said for certain students. There were people lying on the ground, gasping for air, desperately trying to get their breath back. Lieutenant could be seen standing in the middle of the mass of students, arms crossed, not impressed.

"IT WAS ABOUT TIME THAT WE PULLED YOU LAZY ASSES FROM YOUR SUMMER AND FORCED YOU TO DO SOME REAL WORK. HERE, WE WON'T BE PLAYING AROUND. THIS IS THE ARMY, DAMN IT. AND WHEN I'M DONE WITH ALL OF YOU, YOU'LL EITHER BE DEAD OR YOU'LL BE GRATEFUL."

Even if the man was intense, I could see that he enjoyed his work, and he really just liked to force us to push our limits and get out of our comfort zone. The teacher gained a lot of my respect at that moment, and I was eager to continue the class.

"ALRIGHT, NOW, I WANT ALL OF YOU TO DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME 30."

I got into a basic push-up position. However, before I could start the tedious exercise, a timid voice spoke up.

"30 what?"

"PUSH-UPS, YOU DIM-WITTED SEA CUCUMBER. BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPIDITY, EVERYBODY HAS TO DO 50 OF 'EM!"

"What? But that's not fair!" some students complained.

"60!"

Everyone groaned and got ready to push. The grin I was wearing on my face was contrasting the scowls of my peer. I enjoyed pushing myself, and I knew that this teacher wouldn't let me down. I was done before anyone else, and I stood up. I shook off the weariness in my muscles and turned to the teacher who was staring at me, an impressed glint in his eyes.

"YOU, BOY!"

"Yes?" I straightened my back.

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

"Ash Ketchum, sir!" I answered, trying to keep the pride from seeping into my voice.

"THAT WAS SOME PRETTY GOOD FORM, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO RELAX. SINCE YOU'RE DONE, HOW ABOUT YOU GIVE ME ANOTHER LAP, HUH? THINK YOU CAN DO THAT?" I could tell he was challenging me.

I don't know why, but I really wanted the respect of this particular teacher. This surprised me, because I normally didn't care about teachers, often opting to ignore their orders or their help. Maybe it was the fact that P.E. was my favorite class, or maybe it was the way the teacher looked down on us, believing we couldn't follow him. I wanted to prove him wrong and earn his respect.

My gaze squinted, and he grinned, knowing he got me. I set off around the court, running twice as fast as the first time around. I was running at about 80% of my maximum speed, and I held the pace for the whole lap. Sometime during my run, he told the rest of the class to do the same.

When I was back, the teacher let out an impressed grunt.

"You're pretty tough, kid. Come and see me after you go to Cynthia's I might have something for you."

"You aren't screaming," I noted. He let out a hearty laugh at my remark.

"You kids are so easily intimidated! Scream a bit and nobody acts out of line!" I must have been staring, because he shook his head, still smiling.

"Anyways, please come and see me after class, you probably won't have a choice anyway."

Before I could ask what that meant, the other students finished their lap, and Lieutenant got back into his role.

"ALRIGHT, YOU BUNCH OF MOLDY TURNIPS, GATHER AROUND!"

-0-

I was heading to my last class of the day, Pikachu on my shoulder. Pokémon and ability training was the class I was looking forward to the most, as Pokémon battles are one of my favorite things. As a matter of fact, back in Pallet, most of my free time was spent in the neighboring fields or forest, training Pikachu to make him stronger. We were the only ones that took Pokémon battling and training seriously, so we quickly became the strongest duo in our very remote town. We would crush pretty much everybody our age, and adults either didn't have the time to battle or didn't want to, claiming it had been too long since they got into a battle.

We had a few enjoyable battles against a man and his Venusaur. We would lose every time, but we enjoyed it. It pushed us to do better. We would get closer to beat him each time, but he was out of our league. We got really strong trying to beat him, and our last battle ended in a draw. However, he had to move to another city, because he landed a job there, I think. All I could remember about him were his sad, brown eyes.

Hopefully, we will be able to find battle lovers like ourselves here, and we will get stronger. We made our way to the gym building, where the class would be held. In a very unusual fashion, I was the first to arrive to the class. The gym building had a hall, whose walls were made of glass, allowing me to see just how big the place was.

To my left, I could see normal and Pokémon battling fields, where I guess our class would be held. On the right, there was a huge tracks field, one that looked every bit like the one professionals use in competitions. In the back, there was the classical school gymnasium, meaning it was a multiple sport terrain. You could play indoor soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and badminton, from what I could tell.

There was a strong smell of chlorine coming from downstairs, hinting there was a pool under the building. Upstairs, there was a gym with machines for both human and Pokémon, as Paul told me.

"Ah! A student."

The voice made me turn around in shock. The man who had surprised me had red, spiky hair. His face showed amusement at my reaction. From what I gathered, this man was Mr. Wataru, who preferred to be called Lance. Apparently, he was one of the coolest teachers in the school.

"Don't scare me like this!"

He chuckled.

"You must be the new student. Ash Ketchum, was it? You made quite the noise, let me tell you."

"Yep," I said, popping put the "p". He seemed like a pretty laid back person.

Before the small talk could go on, more students arrived, one by one. Within three minutes, everyone was there. The teacher led us to the battling fields, confirming my earlier assumption. He turned to us when we made it to the human fighting grounds.

"Good afternoon, class." Greetings could be heard throughout the mass of students. "Welcome to the Pokémon and ability training course, where you will learn to defend yourselves with the help of your greatest allies, your Pokémon and your ability. As you know, this is the beginning of the year, and you might not all know each other. I believe a good battle is the best way to get to know your peers, so this is what will be on today's program. You each will fight two battles today, one Pokémon battle and a one on one fight. The matchups will be made by me. Since I want you to get to know each other, you will watch all the battles, and your battles will be watched." Nervous mutterings rose from the students. "We will start with… Let's see… Ah! I believe Ash Ketchum vs. Paul Shinji should do nicely."

Immediately, students started placing bets on who would win, which made the teacher frown, but he didn't say anything.

"The teacher is out of his mind! Putting him against Paul, poor guy doesn't stand a chance."

"I know, like, Paul has never lost in, like, his entire life."

I clearly wasn't the favorite here. Despite the overwhelming number of students claiming that I was fighting a lost battle, three people were going around placing bets on me. Gary, Drew, and surprisingly Misty were dealing with everybody willing to bet, confident that I would win.

My adversary and my walked to our corner of the fighting ground. We turned to our teacher, waiting for the signal to begin. He nodded, and turned to the class.

"Before we begin battling, I would like that you all let your partner Pokémon out, as I believe they will benefit from watching the battles." Following his statement, everyone let out their Pokémon. The diversity was unreal! Ranging from Kanto's fairly common Pidgeot to Pokémon I never saw in my life before. Was that a floating ice cream cone? Paul let out a huge turtle-like Pokémon who had a tree growing out of his back on the sidelines, and we faced each other. Pikachu took the hint and jumped from my shoulder and went alongside Paul's Pokémon.

"You have the right to use your abilities to their full extent. Battle is considered finished when one side is either unable to continue to battle or pushed out of the fighting area. Any injuries will be completely healed by our very own Nurse Joy, who willingly accepted to aid in this event."

The pink-haired woman who had welcomed me in the dorm building entered the room, a disgruntled look on her face.

"I only accepted because your stupid class has a high chance to greatly injure someone, I do not support this fighting in any way."

Ignoring her, Lance continued: "I only ask of you two two things. One, give it your all. Two, keep it clean guys. Now, are you ready?"

"Yes," Paul simply answered.

"Never more."

"Then why are you still waiting?"

As soon as the signal was given, we stalked toward each other, legs slightly bent, ready to jump. We circled each other, trying to read the other, not daring to make a move. We played like this for around 25 seconds. The room was completely silent. I knew that Paul wouldn't attack me first, and he knew that I would lose my patience at some point.

He shifted his stance slightly, assuming a more defensive position. I began the battle by throwing a kick to his legs, quickly followed by a punch to the head. He blocked the assault to his legs my deflecting my foot with his forearms, ducking under my punch by doing so. He came up with a punch to my midsection. Normally, the punch would have been impossible to dodge. However, since I am no normal person, I was able to side step the punch.

I quickly grabbed his arm and pull his whole body my way. I shifted my body some more and put one of my legs in the way. My trip attempt was successful, but Paul rolled with the fall before I could really get a signifiant hit in. I ran after him, trying to pressure him before he had time to recover. However, he was ready for the assault. He took a step forward and dropped low, throwing his leg in front of him while twisting his body, effectively mimicking a Low Sweep attack. Once again, my body reacted on its own and I jumped in the air.

Paul, guessing that my ability had something to do with reflexes, knew that I relied heavily on them. He knew that once he threw out his leg, I would jump. And in the air, I was much less mobile. He grabbed my shirt and kept his arm slightly above his head, immobilizing me in the air. He punched, and this time, I was unable to dodge.

The punch hit me like truck, throwing me backwards. I landed harshly on the mattress-covered floor, and shakily got back to my legs. There was only one explanation as to why that punch did so much damage despite my heightened resistance. Paul had super strength as one of his abilities. My bones were able to withstand the hit, but they probably would be broken if it wasn't for my ability. Thinking he had won, Paul had turned away, smirking to the teacher, not seeing that I had gotten back up.

I quietly made my way behind his back, careful not to alert him. Once I was close enough, I got his attention.

"Hey, asshat!"

He turned around, completely taken off guard. I slapped my hands on both of his ears. Hard. So much for keeping things clean. Whoops. While he held his his hands over his ears, completely disoriented, I took a step back. I then rammed into his body sending sprawling to the ground, beyond the boundaries. Lance stepped forward.

"Ash is the winner! Showing that the element of surprise can be the deciding factor of a match."

For a moment, there was no reaction from the students, disbelief written over their faces at my sudden and cheap victory. I don't know what would have been the outcome of the fight if I had decided to play fair, but I had won this one. Paul probably would want to take his revenge, someday. The silence was suddenly broken by three very happy voices.

"YEAH! Money bitches!"

"Language, Mr. Oak."

The comment by the nurse who was currently sending soothing pulses into Paul was completely ignored by Gary, who was going around, collecting money from everyone, along with Drew and Misty. All three of them were big smiles, the growls of our classmates procuring them happiness.

-0-

Making my way to the principal's office, I wasn't stressed in the slightest. Okay, that's a lie. I actually was growing more stressed by the second, apprehensive of the punishment I would have to endure. I went over the events of the last class to take my mind off things.

Paul had not been happy with his loss. He accepted it, however, saying he got cocky and careless. I know that I won that fight with dirty tactics, but if he's going to take the blame off me, let him, right?

We also had Pokémon battles in the second half of the period. There was a lot of good battles, like Misty's Psyduck against Gary's Wartortle, or Drew's Roserade against some girl's Axew. Mine, however, well… let's just say Lance didn't exactly do the best match up for this one.

 _I sent my Pikachu on the field, ready for a good battle. The lanky boy in front of me was feeling extremely doubtful about his chances as he sent his Ducklett on the field. Lance gave the signal, and I wasted no time._

" _Pikachu, thunderbolt."_

 _The yellow bolt raced forward, and our adversaries closed their eyes closed simultaneously. The poor Pokémon didn't stand a chance. The little duck caught the four-times effective attack to the face and went down with a quack of despair._

The person I faced probably will try to forget that one.

Before I knew it, I was in front of the wooden double doors, who swung themselves open once more. I entered the office, and the doors closed themselves again. The principal had her back turned to me, dramatically looking out the window, gazing at the children who were making their way back to the Dorms Building. I rolled my eyes at the cliché, and took a seat.

"Greetings, Ash," she said while turning around to face me. "I trust that you have been showing a more adequate behavior since our last meeting?" My mind flashed back to the fight I had with Misty, and I quickly nodded before any emotions betrayed what happened. "Good. Now, this will be quick. I had originally prepared punishment for you, however, one of your teachers contacted me, wishing to hand you your punishment. You will still serve an hour of detention this Friday, but the rest will be up to the Lieutenant Surge. You can go and see him."

I rose from my seat and exited the office, my face void of any color. I didn't know what to expect from the Lieutenant. On one hand, the man had shown some sort of interest in me, and it is now particularly showing since he has asked to be the one to handle my punishment.

On the other hand, I saw just how intense the man could get, and I doubt that he was fully pushing us during the class. One thing was sure. My punishment would be grueling, both mentally and physically.

I headed back to the Gym Building, where I was told the gym teacher was waiting for me. He also asked that I bring Pikachu along, as he had a part in my acts of delinquency. After the 10 minutes of walk, I finally entered the building, partner on my shoulder.

The imposing man was sitting in the hall, waiting for my appearance. His head turned once he heard the door opening, and he rose to his full height.

"Good, you're here. Follow me."

I followed the huge man upstairs, trying to guess what my punishment would be. It was obviously something physical, since we were going to the gym floor. But just how physical?

"You're probably wondering what you will be doing here, no?"

"As a matter of fact, I am."

"Let me tell you, then. Your punishment for the act you committed will be…" I braced my self. "Nothing."

"Huh?"

Surge boomed out laughing at my reaction. His laugh was loud, but happy. He then turned to me, a more serious expression in his face.

"During the class, I saw that you like to be pushed to your limits. Am I right?" I nodded. "It's rare that I get so much spirit in a little punk like you, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I'm offering to train you and your Pikachu here for as long as you'd like. It would be an hour, here, four days a week. I can't tell you more unless you accept."

I was surprised, to say the least. Not only I wasn't getting punished, but I was given the opportunity to get some privileges. The proposition seemed good. I would be able to see exercises that I would be able to employ in my work out sessions later on, and he even offered to train Pikachu.

"The training will be harsh, but the results will be more than worth it, and I think you'll like it."

Before I could accept, I had to ask questions.

"Why take me out of my punishment?"

"Cynthia is no imbecile. She probably already gave you your punishment, as she knew there wouldn't be some big-time punishment with me. So I'm no taking you out of it."

I blinked. That was true.

"What's in it for you?"

"The satisfaction that at least one kid in his school is not some spineless broccoli."

What's with all the vegetable disses?

"You said you'd train Pikachu. How would you do that?"

Instead of answering me, he just smirked and reached in his pocket, pulling out a Pokéball. He pressed the button in the center, and a Raichu materialized in front of us. It was a powerful creature, who looked every bit as quick as it looked to be powerful. It's common misconception to think that Raichu is slower than Pikachu. That is not the case. It is only the case with recently evolved Raichus, who need some time to get used to the additional bulk in their body. However, after a few days, they get used to it, and their powerful legs make them speedier than they ever were.

"You're looking at the most powerful Raichu in the region," he said with pride clear in his voice. "She'll be the one to train your little Pikachu."

I looked at the Pokémon on my shoulder, and I knew I had to accept. The prospect of getting stronger, trained by the most powerful Pokémon of his evolutionary line, had set ablaze his determination. He looked at me, fire in his eyes. He probably wanted to prove that he was strong, even as a Pikachu.

Pikachu actually had the chance to evolve but he declined. Not that he was against it, he actually wants to evolve someday. But he wants to be as strong as possible before doing so. That way, he is sure to become the most powerful.

I decided the proposition needed no further thought, and I extended hand.

"We accept."

 **So, how was it? Good? bad? terrible? Terrible in a review!**

 **Some of you might find it uncharacteristic of Ash to behave that way around a teacher, but I have my reasons ;)**

 **So we touched a bit more on abilities this chapter, but believe me, we didn't even scratch the surface yet.**

 **Also fight scenes! Tell me how they were, how I can ameliorate them, anything really. I'm aware that there wasn't a Pokémon battle in this chapter, but that is because they are for another chapter.**

 **I think that's all! Like always, please review! They are really helping, more than you'd think!**

 **Blade-a-Blaze, signing out.**


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